Electron Compton scattering and the measurement of electron momentum distributions in solids

Talmantaite, A.; Hunt, M.R.C.; Mendis, B.G.

Abstract

Electron Compton scattering is a technique that gives information on the electron momentum density of states and is used to characterize the ground state electronic structure in solids. Extracting the momentum density of states requires us to assume the so‐called ‘impulse approximation’, which is valid for large energy losses. Here, the robustness of the impulse approximation in the low energy transfer regime is tested and confirmed on amorphous carbon films. Compared to traditional Compton measurements, this provides additional benefits of more efficient data collection and a simplified way to probe valence electrons, which govern solid state bonding. However, a potential complication is the increased background from the plasmon signal. To overcome this, a novel plasmon background subtraction routine is proposed for samples that are resistant to beam damage.

Citation

Talmantaite, A., Hunt, M., & Mendis, B. (2020). Electron Compton scattering and the measurement of electron momentum distributions in solids. Journal of Microscopy, 279(3), 185-188. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12854

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 7, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jan 6, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Deposit Date: Jan 10, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 10, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Microscopy
• Print ISSN: 0022-2720
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2818
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 279
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 185-188
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12854
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1274226